We’re starting a book company

It began when we realised that the people who have spoken at the Do Lectures are the kind of people who should be writing books. So we can read them.

They are the game changers. The people whose ideas, passion, creativity and drive are already changing the world — for the better.

We thought about whether we could recreate that same positive change in book form: a simple mindshift, a new perspective, the mastery of a new skill or craft, a shot of inspiration.

So we set out to build a book company.

On 2 May 2013, we’ll launch with the first five books. They will be pocket guides. Each book will be pretty short — around 20,000 words (that’s about 100 pages) — because they will focus on the 'doing'. Not the theory behind it. Concise practical guides about how to Do stuff.

We will publish books in print and digital formats. We still love physical books and are investing time to make sure they are beautifully designed and produced. We also know that downloading a book onto your iPhone, iPad or other device then reading on the move is sometimes a more practical option.

At the moment we’re trying to work out if you can pay once for the book and get it in both formats — and maybe the digital version can appear across all your devices, not just one. As far as we know it hasn’t been done yet.

Like our authors, we want to be innovative and to disrupt. That’s why we asked James Victore to design our covers. He’s been disrupting the art world for years.

And this industry is ready for a bit of disruption. It’s going through a revolution. Print is becoming digital — the book is coming alive. Our reading experience is changing. But the thing we won’t lose sight of is the content. It is what we’re reading that’s important. Not how we’re reading it. And luckily, content is our thing.